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Re: World Cup Discussion Thread

Originally Posted by Nugget

As much as we all have a soft spot for England (aside from our respective teams) I don't think they have the defensive ability to lift the WC. The WC is unlke most of the premier club championships as its less about attractive football as each game is essentially and do or die final.

The teams who do go well are Germany, Brazil and Italy. And I would pick one of those three. The outsider is Argentina. Brazil have a much underestimated defence and really does complement their attacking creativity. The Germans are great at protecting their net and building to taking that one chance to score.

The English really have put too much into their attacking gifts this time around. Rooney, Owen, Beckham, Lampard and Gerrard are five guys any team would want. But if I had to take one guy from the England squad it would be Jamie Carragher - will never let you down at the back.

I'm more a fan of individual English players than their team overall. I disagree with you, however, about the weakness of their defense. Gerrard is one of the strongest tackling midfielders in the world. Cole, Ferdinand, etc. etc. They've got at least half a dozen truly world class defenders.

If anyone's defense proves to be their undoing, I'd go with the Brazilians. Roberto Carlos and Cafu, their main stalwarts in the back, and major pieces of their counter-attacking defensive game, are both getting exceptionally long in the tooth for a defender (about 35).

That being said, they're my 2nd favorite team because of the way they play the game. Such joy and creativity, wonderful. And my favorite player right now is easily Adriano (well, maybe he's tied with Henry, who is also a joy to watch). If anyone hasn't had the opportunity to see this guy, he plays over in Serie A for Inter Milan and is possibly the strongest striker on the ball that I've ever seen (Yes, easily stronger than Rooney, which is really saying something). And with a Brazilian's flair, no less! And a lefty!

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

Calipari is not, nor has he ever been accused or "caught", cheating. He himself turned in one of his players (Camby) for dealing with an agent to get one Final Four overturned. The other is all on the NCAA and Rose. (IF Rose cheated.)

"Cheering for Kentucky is like watching Star Wars and hoping Darth Vader chokes an ewok"

Watching the game tonight, the biggest thing I'd be looking at is the performance of our forwards, most notably Taylor Twellman, and the midfielder Clint Dempsey. Both these guys had really nice games against Norway. Can they put two in a row? Consistency is what they've been lacking; hopefully they can show some tonight.

Out of the current squad for tonight's contest--comprised totally of MLS players--versus Japan these are the two "bubble" players who could actually end up starting a match for the U.S. in the World Cup. (The other two sure-fire starting-caliber players on this roster are Landon Donovan & Eddie Pope)

Eddie Johnson is on the roster for tonight's match but has been injured. It will be interesting to see if he is fit enough to play. He might be used as a sub, doubt Bruce will want him to go 75 or 90. If he's healthy come WC, and at top form, he'll almost certainly be the other top forward paired with Brian McBride (unless Arena puts Landon Donovan as a forward, which he does at times but would probably prefer to eschew under ideal scenarios b/c Eddie Johnson has the potential to be the "pure" goalscorer that the U.S. has never really produced.

Chris Rolfe is another to watch. He's yet to get a cap but has been a spectacular goal-scorer at times in MLS. I'd like to see him get a shot tonight.

As far as Japan is concerned, supposedly they've brought their A-team defense and their B-team forwards, so we should face, at the very least, a much more organized and skilled defense than these players (TWELLMAN & DEMPSEY) saw against Norway's C-Team which will hopefully provide a better barometer of their progression.

EDIT: Heath Pearce is a defending youngster who plays professionally in Denmark for FC Nordsjaelland. The rest are MLS.

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

Calipari is not, nor has he ever been accused or "caught", cheating. He himself turned in one of his players (Camby) for dealing with an agent to get one Final Four overturned. The other is all on the NCAA and Rose. (IF Rose cheated.)

"Cheering for Kentucky is like watching Star Wars and hoping Darth Vader chokes an ewok"

Re: World Cup Discussion Thread

One thing that makes the U.S. tough to gauge is that so many of the national team members play their club ball in MLS. It offers little perspective for comparison to teams for whom the majority of the starters play in major European leagues. If you are playing in a league with Chelsea, Barcelona, or Juventus, you are probably regularly playing a team better than most of the teams you will see in the World Cup.

Most of the U.S. players are unknowns as far as that level of play. For the most part, they have spent their time playing, at best, at the equivalent of AAA. Does the U.S. have a bunch of Miggy Cabrera's and Albert Pujol's or do they have a team full of Brandon Larson's?

Someone mentioned Donovan's lack of success in Germany as a weakness to the team. Frankly, that experiment was doomed from the start. A scrawny fast guy like Donovan is a miserable fit in German style soccer. If he would have gone to Spain or Italy, that would have been a better test.

I thought Twellman and Demsey looked good - maybe Dempsey makes the Germany trip now. I was pretty impressed by his form. He could supply some depth to the squad, although I don't know who he would displace in the starting midfield. Twellman already had a spot. Boy, Japan didn't really try too hard to be competitive until they started being embarrassed. I was thinking that they were having a look at some outside shot selections. They really allowed Twellman a lot of room.

Re: World Cup Discussion Thread

Cole is currently injured and Ferdinand has been shown up lately in the central defense. Plus Campbell is having head problems.

The WC is about a different type of football especially in the QF and SF. I just don't think the English have either the defense or the tactics to go through. They certainly have the talent but its different at the WC.

Re: World Cup Discussion Thread

I see his MLS games every now and then and a lot of people seem to allow him a lot of room. He runs free as well as any American I can remember.

Teams put markers on him and he gets free. The guy makes things happen.

I'm not sure who the U.S. squad drops for Dempsey either, but I'd drop somebody. Just thinking out loud, any U.S. midfielders you think would make a nice halfback?

Don't Ben Olsen and Frankie Hejduk play both Midfield and defense positions? Maybe they are settled in their current roles. Sometimes the WC coach sees a player at a different position - so it makes for interesting watching.

Re: World Cup Discussion Thread

After Reyna, Donovan, and Beasley, the 4th midfield spot is wide open and I could easily envision Dempsey being given the nod if his stellar game continues.

What will be very telling is how he performs when he is paired with the rest of the starters who are in the midst of their European club schedules during the final Pre-WC friendlies.

Twellman will probably be a sub b/c Bruce WILL start McBride and Twellman is a very similar player. soooo.... unless Eddie Johnson is unable to regain form by the WC, he should be the starter alongside McBride with Twellman being the 1st sub. (I could see Twellman starting one game out of the 1st 3 w/ McBride being used as the sub in that game: Obviously, depends on what we need point-wise).

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

Calipari is not, nor has he ever been accused or "caught", cheating. He himself turned in one of his players (Camby) for dealing with an agent to get one Final Four overturned. The other is all on the NCAA and Rose. (IF Rose cheated.)

"Cheering for Kentucky is like watching Star Wars and hoping Darth Vader chokes an ewok"

Re: World Cup Discussion Thread

Originally Posted by Nugget

Cole is currently injured and Ferdinand has been shown up lately in the central defense. Plus Campbell is having head problems.

The WC is about a different type of football especially in the QF and SF. I just don't think the English have either the defense or the tactics to go through. They certainly have the talent but its different at the WC.

I wonder how much gas Beckam is going to have left in his tank, too. Dude is running his legs off for Madrid.

Re: World Cup Discussion Thread

Originally Posted by WilyMoROCKS

Twellman will probably be a sub b/c Bruce WILL start McBride and Twellman is a very similar player. soooo.... unless Eddie Johnson is unable to regain form by the WC, he should be the starter alongside McBride with Twellman being the 1st sub. (I could see Twellman starting one game out of the 1st 3 w/ McBride being used as the sub in that game: Obviously, depends on what we need point-wise).

I'd like to see Arena rotate the three as starters for group play. That way each could have nearly a full game rest heading into the knock-out portion. It would also give him an idea of which combo works the best.

Re: World Cup Discussion Thread

ZURICH, Switzerland -- The U.S. national team improved to fifth in FIFA's monthly rankings -- the highest it's ever been placed by world soccer's governing body.

The Americans, who broke out of a three-way tie for sixth with Spain and Mexico despite dropping a point to 764 in Wednesday's latest poll, also moved ahead of France, which dropped to eighth.

The United States reached the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup finals and won the 2005 Gold Cup.

At the other end of the top 20, World Cup host Germany and European champion Greece dropped out.

Greece, which failed to qualify for this year's World Cup, dropped from 19th place to 21st with 704 points. Germany, which reached the final at the last World Cup and will host the next edition, had been tied with the Greeks but dropped to 22nd with 700 points.

Brazil remained at the top of the list with 835 points, two less than it had in February's rankings. The Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Argentina continue to occupy the next three spots.

The Czechs remain a distant second with 789 points, but that's only one more than the Netherlands. The Argentines also lead the United States by only one point.

Spain remained in sixth place, while Mexico dropped to seventh and France to eighth. England stayed ninth and Portugal remained in 10th.

Iran and Croatia were the teams that benefited from the drop at the bottom of the top 20, sharing 19th in place of Greece and Germany.

Re: World Cup Discussion Thread

March 20, 2006
German Coach and American Ways Are a Tough Match
By JERE LONGMAN
D&#220;SSELDORF, Germany, March 19 — With the World Cup opening June 9, Germany is in a familiar panic as the host country, fearing that its coach is merely a "Baywatch" blond, more concerned with his tan lines than with the bottom line of winning a global soccer championship.

Since J&#252;rgen Klinsmann, a former star forward and captain of Germany's national team, became the coach in July 2004, he has continued to live half of each month in Southern California with his American wife and two young children. This transcontinental commuting has aroused three of Germany's favorite preoccupations — soccer, the United States and the weather.

A self-described cosmopolitan who speaks four languages, Klinsmann has hired an American trainer, as well as a sports psychologist, and has opened his roster to younger players. These reforms have unsettled the insular and conservative German soccer federation, which appears to want and fear change, said Oliver Bierhoff, the national team manager.

Germany is split between those who embrace Klinsmann and those who vaguely fear an Americanization of German soccer, according to Andrei Markovits, a professor of German studies at the University of Michigan who has written about Klinsmann and anti-Americanism in Europe.

The United States is still considered a soccer upstart here. In the view of some soccer officials, journalists and politicians, whatever New World approaches Klinsmann has learned in America have little application for an Old World soccer power like Germany.

"It's a clash between the new and the old in Germany," Markovits said by telephone. "There is a real cleavage between the left, liberal, urbane, youngish Germany that really likes him and the 'real' guys who go to the bar every night and think he's the worst because he's sort of an intellectual, he lives in L.A. and brings in American methods and married an American wife."

Particular dread set in March 1, when Italy routed Germany, 4-1, in an exhibition in Florence, Italy. Klinsmann was blamed for everything from poisoning German soccer to grinning too much to undermining the brittle economy.

Speculation even arose that Klinsmann could be fired if Germany were to lose an exhibition to the United States on Wednesday in Dortmund. At the least, soccer officials fear that he will be booed for dropping a Dortmund-based defender, Christian W&#246;rns, from the national team. T-shirts exhorting "You for us and we for you" will be handed out to placate and rally the home fans.

Criticism grew so intense by last week that Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, felt it necessary to deflate mounting pressure on Klinsmann. She declared that he was "on the right track" and urged him to ignore his critics.

"It's simply sad for a country that is going full speed to their biggest sporting event for the next 50 years," Klinsmann, 41, said here Sunday in an interview with a small group of international reporters.

"The World Cup is bigger than the Olympics," Klinsmann said. "It's the biggest thing you can host. And it seems like we do everything possible to be far too skeptical, far too critical, instead of being happy and proud and honored that you have that competition."

German reporters were not invited to the interview. It infuriates Klinsmann that he is portrayed by some as a beach bum. Apart from pledging to spend most of his time in Germany as the World Cup approaches, he has defiantly said he will stick to his plans "no matter where home is."

"I take this job very seriously," he said, adding of the World Cup: "If we win our first two games, everyone will try to jump on our train. But the train will have left already."

Those unhappy with Klinsmann were surely unmoved by the latest rankings from FIFA, soccer's world governing body, which put the United States fifth, the highest it has ever been, and Germany 22nd, the lowest it has been.

"I think there is a lack of respect for our soccer," said Bruce Arena, the American national team coach.

The United States threatened Germany before losing, 1-0, in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup. Yet Arena said he still sensed a competitive jealousy among traditional powers who felt threatened by the rise of teams from North America, Africa and Asia.

Germany's obsession with the weather, which has been particularly cold this winter, might influence the dissatisfaction with Klinsmann, said Peter Zygowski, a language consultant at the Goethe Institute in San Francisco.

"They are completely obsessed with sunshine and the beach, and when they hear about Klinsmann in California, it conjures images of vacation, slacking off," Zygowski said by telephone.

That was certainly not his image as a rapacious goal scorer. Klinsmann scored 47 goals in 108 appearances with the German national team. He played forward for the team that won the 1990 World Cup and was the captain of the squad that won the 1996 European championship.

After a professional club career in Germany, Italy, France and England, Klinsmann retired in 1998 and settled in Huntington Beach, Calif., to work in sports marketing and consulting. He prefers the privacy afforded him in the United States, believing that anonymity abroad will allow his son and daughter to grow beyond his considerable sporting shadow.

The United States, he said, also appealed to him for its "let's go for it" attitude. Many Germans seem pleased by the new attacking style Klinsmann has put in. There was widespread agreement that change was necessary after Germany's embarrassing exit in the first round of the 2004 European championships, only two years after reaching the final of the World Cup. (It lost to Brazil.

National team coaches face constant second-guessing in soccer-consumed nations. But Klinsmann's management style has been especially provocative: spending half of each month in California, communicating with his players via e-mail and telephone, following their club matches on satellite television.

He would do the same thing if he lived in Berlin or Rome, Klinsmann said. But to some soccer officials, "e-mail and PowerPoint is an American way of doing things," said Bierhoff, who is Klinsmann's second in charge.

"Every proposal seems suspicious," Bierhoff said.

Germany's recent exhibition loss to Italy unleashed an angry response. "Disaster," proclaimed the soccer magazine Kicker. The Bild tabloid, Germany's largest daily and one that has been highly critical of Klinsmann, wrote, "Mama Mia We Are Bad." The tabloid showed a picture of a grinning Klinsmann ("Grinsi Klinsi") and added, "With you, one can only cry about our national team."

Die Tageszeitung wrote that Klinsmann threatened the expected $9.5 billion economic windfall from the World Cup and sapped Germany of its anticipation and general optimism. "Euphoria has been replaced by depression," the paper said, adding, "At most, the gastronomy branch can hope that, out of desperation, the masses grab for the bottle."

After that defeat, Klinsmann returned to California on the anniversary of his father's death, missing a workshop for World Cup coaches. That prompted a rebuke from Germany's greatest soccer hero, Franz Beckenbauer, who led West Germany to the 1974 World Cup title as the captain and to the 1990 World Cup title as the coach.

"Time is running out," Beckenbauer, who is president of the 2006 World Cup organizing committee, told reporters.

Stefan Effenberg, a former teammate of Klinsmann's, urged that he be fired immediately, saying, "The rest of the world is laughing at us."

Some politicians even wanted Klinsmann censured before a sports subcommittee of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, according to Markovits, the Michigan professor. "That's like Larry Brown being cited before Congress for only bringing home a bronze from the Athens Olympics," Markovits said, referring to the Knicks' coach. "Absurd."

In recent days, the criticism has subsided, with Chancellor Merkel supporting Klinsmann and saying: "We should not destroy our justified joy of anticipation with all this negativity. Do not let yourself be deterred from your path."

Beckenbauer, too, offered encouragement, saying, "There is no question that Germany can win the World Cup." But he also could not resist a dig at Klinsmann as they met in Berlin, telling reporters: "It is fine that J&#252;rgen will now stay in Germany. He has had enough of the sun."

The German team does not have the skill of Brazil or Argentina, and the tactical sophistication of Italy, Klinsmann acknowledged. But he also noted that his team would enjoy a tremendous home-field advantage in the World Cup. "The truth will be on the field," he said.

If Germany wins the World Cup on July 9, Klinsmann will again be a national icon. If things go badly, Markovits said a German journalist recently suggested to him that Klinsmann would become persona non grata in his home country.

"Maybe he could visit his parents, but he would be completely vilified," Markovits said. "I would seriously worry about his safety if the Germans lose in the quarterfinals."

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